FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida Gulf Coast University women's volleyball team notched its ninth Power Five win in program history Saturday by taking down Ole Miss 3-2 in the FGCU Homewood Suites Invitational.
"What a fun match and an awesome environment," head coach Matt Botsford said. "Really pleased with the poise our team played with tonight, even when we found ourselves in tough spots. Reese did a great job in her first start, and I thought Ella really did a nice job coming off the bench and providing a spark. Our serving was vastly improved from last night, and I thought our defense started to show signs of what we are capable of."
The Eagles (1-1) came out firing in front of the home crowd in set one, soaring to a 7-2 advantage. Ole Miss began to make its presence known by pulling to within two, 13-11, forcing an FGCU timeout.
Ole Miss (0-2) tied the opening set 17-17, but the Eagles responded with a 5-0 run en route to a gritty 25-22 set-one victory. Fifth-year Alexandra Zakutney capped off set one with an empathic kill made possible by a perfect dig from junior Shelby Kent.
Defensively, FGCU held Ole Miss to a .114 hitting percentage in the first and .176 percent for the match.
Facing a 19-8 deficit in the second set, the Eagles rallied to take a 23-21 lead, but Ole Miss would tie the match at one set apiece.
A back-and-forth set three witnessed 19 ties and nine lead changes. FGCU ultimately came out on top 30-28 to grab a 2-1 set advantage.
The Rebels overtook the Eagles late in the fourth, forcing a decisive fifth set. The Eagles jumped out to a 14-8 lead in the fourth.
In the fifth, Ole Miss secured an 11-8 lead shortly after the midway point. With its back against the wall, FGCU managed to tie the fifth at 11 all. The Eagles used its 5-0 run to take a 13-11 lead and clinched the match 15-12 courtesy of an Ole Miss attack error.
Six Eagles recorded five or more kills Saturday. Senior Juliana Lentz paced all Eagles with 11. Freshman Reese Burry tallied 19 digs in her first collegiate start.
Graduate student Lily Tessier had a double-double night, producing 26 assists and 12 digs. Junior Skylar English slowed the Rebels' advance with five big blocks. FGCU emerged victorious despite Ole Miss outpacing the Eagles in total kills, digs, blocks and assists.
FGCU will close the invitational Sunday against St. John's at 1 p.m. Arizona State (2-0) remained undefeated with its 3-0 sweep of St. John's (1-1) in the day's first matchup.
